<span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><p><strong>Objective</strong>: analyze how nursing professionals express their feelings and reactions at work.</p> <p><strong>Methods</strong>: descriptive study of qualitative approach. The research was conducted from July to September 2008 in a public hospital located at the city of Fortaleza, Ceará (Brazil). 22 nursing professional, 10 nurses and 12 technicians, participated in the study. The study was approved by the institution’s Ethics Research Committee. Data collection was made using semi-structured scripts in face-to-face interviews.</p> <p><strong>Results</strong>: answers were categorized as follows: mea...